Kimmel: Trump's Ukraine defense just went from 'If the glove doesn't fit you must acquit' to 'Gimme back my glove!'

Jimmy Kimmel on Trump's new quid pro quo defense
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, one of President Trump's last remaining original Cabinet members, is resigning, Jimmy Kimmel noted on Thursday's Kimmel Live. "Man, when Ben Carson wakes up, he's gonna be, like, 'Where the hell is everybody?' The president reportedly blamed Rick Perry for getting him on that now-infamous call to Ukraine, but keep in mind, all though this story, the president and his admirers have been insisting that there was no quid pro quo. ... Then today, Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, went in front of reporters and blatantly admitted that there was."

"So all the bad stuff they've been saying the president didn't do, now they're saying he did it and he does it 'all the time'?" Kimmel asked. "Their defense has gone from 'If the glove doesn't fit you must acquit' to 'Gimme back my glove!'"

On top of everything else, the White House announced Thursday that "the president is generously renting his golf club out to all the leaders of the world" at next year's G7 summit in Miami, Kimmel deadpanned. "Most experts say this is a clear violation of the Emoluments Clause, which says the president, a president, cannot profit from a foreign government — although the G7 summit happens in June, which there's a good chance he might not be president by then." He laughed at the idea of Trump having "to watch President Pence chatting it up with the world leaders while he guzzles Diet Cokes in the clubhouse."

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Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, "flew to Turkey to negotiate an agreement wherein Turkey gets everything they want and the United States gives it to them," while America's Kurdish allies die or flee and, "thanks to our genius commander-in-chief, the U.S. military is now bombing itself," Kimmel said. "Mission accomplished."

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The Daily Show noted that Trump wasn't always so cavalier about the Kurds' well-being. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.